PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(6 January 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local cancer treatment facilities, such as mobile chemotherapy units and hospital breast cancer clinics, have sufficient resources to meet demand and reduce waiting times for patients.

Asked by:
Sir Julian Smith (Conservative)

As set out in the plan for reforming elective care, the Government is committed to improving performance on cancer waiting times.

To improve access to cancer treatment, the Government is investing an extra £26 billion in the National Health Service and providing it with the resources it needs, including community diagnostic centres, to ensure patients are diagnosed faster and earlier so that they receive timely access to treatment. £70 million will also be spent on replacing out-of-date radiotherapy equipment so that cancer patients benefit from faster and safer cancer treatment using the most up-to-date technology. Replacing these older machines will save as many as 13,000 appointments from being lost to equipment breakdown.

NHS England has partnered with the charity Hope For Tomorrow to establish mobile chemotherapy units across England, bringing chemotherapy and cancer treatments closer to patients' homes, reducing waiting time for hospital appointments, with units staffed by specialist nurses offering personalised care.

The NHS has made important progress on the treatment of cancer, including breast cancer, delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week to ensure faster treatment for those who need it most.

Answered by:
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